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The Gulf region's leading men's luxury lifestyle magazine. For men who understand that the true value of luxury is its foundation in knowledge. Not so much a website, but an indispensable guide to life.

Subscribe to the magazine

The Gulf region's leading men's luxury lifestyle magazine. For men who understand that the true value of luxury is its foundation in knowledge. Not so much a website, but an indispensable guide to life.

Ford is bringing noise-cancellation technology to cars

Admit it, you love the fact that man came up with noise-cancelling headphones. A noise-cancelling set of cans is perfect for when you’re stuck next to a wailing infant on a flight or just want to cut off from the world. It’s not just your average gadget, it’s what keeps you sane.

Of course, Amazon saw the dangers of people using noise-cancelling headphones as their portable and musical Fortress of Solitude and so is developing smart headphones. Those headphones are capable of detecting key sounds such as sirens or someone calling out to you, and briefly halt the noise-cancelling functions.

Needless to say, noise-cancellation technology is not new and now it's spreading into another sector; cars. We shouldn't be that surprised. The motoring industry is about to undertake the biggest shift in its industry, and we may not even be driving them ourselves in 10 years time. Ford saw the gap in the automobile acoustics market.

Ford’s Active Noise Control tech uses three microphones embedded around the driver and passenger seats to detect and cancel out background noise while driving.

Like a few noise-cancelling headphones, the system is tuned to tone out low frequencies like droning engine noises and ambient road sounds. That little detail also means you don’t have to worry about not being able to hear someone shouting for you outside the car – or being oblivious to the sound of emergency sirens rushing towards you.

In addition to the noise-cancelling feature, Ford has also developed and now refined acoustic glass, which absorbs distracting sounds from outside the windscreen and front windows. Thanks to its special acoustic layer – thinner than a human hair – the acoustic glass reduces the noise of the wind, as air flows around the car.

The Active Noise Control feature is part of a range of standard innovations on the brand new Ford Edge Sport. We were lucky enough to retrace the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia in the Ford SUV. Aside from the Active Noise Control technology the Edge includes the automaker's Intelligent All-Wheel Drive – a feature that delivers delivering a seamless transition of torque between all four wheels to provide a more secure footing on the road.

While we can see many opting for Ford’s Zen-like environment within the Ford Edge, we can’t help but think about gearheads. Many purists will be eager to test out this new technology, but they’d hate to miss out on that engine purring as they bury the gas. We couldn’t get enough of it back when Romain Grosjean took us for a spin. Check it out.

Subscribe to the magazine

The Gulf region's leading men's luxury lifestyle magazine. For men who understand that the true value of luxury is its foundation in knowledge. Not so much a website, but an indispensable guide to life.